Windshield wiper



3 J. w. ANDERSON 1 1,2 WINDSHIELD WIPER Filed June 5, 1951 Patented Feb.18, 1936 UNITED STATES,

PATENT orifice 2,031,295. wmnsnmnn WIPER John W. Anderson, Gary, Ind.Application June 5, 1931, Serial No. 542,310

' 6 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for wiping films'oi dust, moisture,oleaginous material, and the like from the Windshields or observationpanes of vehicles.

.An object of the present invention is to provide a wiper which can beapplied at random to any selected position on the pane without thenecessity of altering the pane or its frame in any way, "the wiper beingadapted to be attached to the pane by merely pressing a suction cupthereagainst, the suction cup serving to support pivshield havingapplied thereto one .of the'improved wipers embodying the presentinvention, the pane being shown with a portion of its area covered witha vision obscuring film, and a semi-circular portion of its area wipedclean of such film by the action of the wiper; v

Fig. 2, a side view on an enlarged scale, of the construction shown inFig. 1, the position of the parts immediately prior'to 'comprasion ofthe suction cup against the pane, being indicated in dotted lines; Fig.3, a top plan view of the device;

Fig. 4, a sectional view taken diametrically thigiugh the'suctioncup'and its associated parts; an

' h Fig. 5, a transverse section taken on the line In the practiceof-theinvention, referring descriptively to 'thespwiflc embodiment thereofexemplified in the. accompanying drawing, the

wiper comprises a suction cup ID, a springarm II having one endpivotally connected life the suction cup,a stud I! having one endembedded centrally in the suction cup and its-otherend projectedrearwardly from the suction cup to provide an arbor for the pivotalattachment .of a

loop I la at one end of the wiper arm; and a wiper blade I3 detachablyconnected to :one end of the wiper arm, with the capacity of flop, by aclip ll. The suction cup I0 is preferably in the form of aconcavo-convex disk and may be made of soft rubber, or other suitablefreely elastic material. adapted when compressed to take a suction gripon a smooth'surface, The convex or outer wall Illa of the cup is formed'centrallywith an annular rib or,boss Ilb adapted to cooperate withparts,- which will ner'eaner be described, tohold 'tudinal wiping edgesor arrises lie.

walls of themetal back Ito are flared at their outer edges atthe lineofbend of the shank Ilc,

nular flange I2a which is embedded centrally in the wall of the suctioncup, being spaced. from the inner surface I00 thereof. This constructionobviates an opening through thewall of the suction cup, and consequentlyeliminates danger of 5 air leakage which would impair the suction effectof the cup. The outer end of the stud is formed with a reduced portionto provide a shoulder I2b, on which reduced portion and against whichshoulder a washer I2c is fitted. To pro- 10 'vide for locking the washerIn in place on the stud, the stud is formed with a concentric, axial,cylindrical bore or recess-12d. This construction enables the rim at theouter end of the stud, to be turned over to provide an annular retain-15 ing flange It's. The loop Ila on the-wiperarm is fitted on the shankof the stud next to the washer I 20. There is also fitted on the shankof the stud a washer I2! which is interposed between the loop Ila of thewiper arm and the 20 yielding annular rib or shoulder "lb of the suctioncup. This construction functions to press the wiper arm against thewindshield pane, and

co-operates with the-arm to exert sufilcient prespossesses such shapeand resiliency that it will hold the wiper blade against the pane with ayielding pressure.

. The wiper blade I! may be of any suitable construction, but as showncomprises a channeled U-shapa metal back IIa and a rubber 40 wipingstrip IIb.. The wiper strip has ashank I3c formed atits inner endwith acylindrical head which is fitted in the channel of the metal ,back Ila.At the outer end of the shank the wiper stripis formed with an enlargedhead lid, v

provided on each side with a plurality of ,longi- I The side to-preventthe shank from beingcut in flexing, and to reinforce it during ilexura-Theclipg'll for attaching the wiperblade to the arm II, comprises aU-shape plate a, a socket. member Ilb, and a spring Ilc interposedbetween the socket member and the metal back I3a of the blade. The legsof the-Damped plate straddle the metal back lid of the wiper blade andare connected thereto by a cotter pin Ild A which passes throughregistering openings inthe, back, wiper strip, and less. One end of thewiper connection between the socket member I lb and the arm ll does notpermit play between those parts, such playv as is necessary to obtainthe desired fiop of the blade, being permitted by the spring I and theloose fit between the socketed member lb, and the back I30 of the wiperblade.

While the improved wiper is shown in Fig. 1

with the suction cup disposed at the upper portion of the pane, so thatthe swing of the blade is in a path substantially similar to thattraversed by a hanging pendulum, it is to be understood that the suctioncup may be applied at a lower position so that the blade may be moved ina semi,- circular sweep above the suction cup. This latter positioningof the wiper on the pane is advantageous when oleaginous mm isencountered, as it permits the material accumulated by the blade in itstraverse across the pane, to flow down the pane away from the blade bythe action of gravity, thus preventing such substance from clinging tothe blade with. consequent continuous smearing of the pane.

The described wiper possesses the highly important advantage that it canbe applied to any desired position on the windshield or window panes ofan automobile or other vehicle, without the necessity of making anyalterations in the structure of the panes or their supporting frames,

- it being merely necessary to press the suction cup against the pane inorder to securely affix the wiper in position for eflective wipingoperation. It is well known to vehicle operators, that the inner side ofwindshields and window panes frequently become coated with films ofmoisture, frost, or oleaginous substances, seriously impairing their.transparency. When such conditions arise the operator can expeditiouslyand effectively clear the panes by merely pr sing the suction cupagainst them at any desired position, and then oscillating the bladeback and forth thereacross. When-it is desired to dispose the blade outof the field of vision, and in a convenient position for subsequent use,it is merely necessary to elevate it as shown in Fig. 1, in whichposition it will-be held by the combined pressures of the arm 'II andthe yielding rib lb of the suction cup.

Whendesired, the wiper may be detached from the pane, by loosening thesuction cup therefrom, and stored in any convenient place on thevehicle. While one of the preferred embodiments of the presentinventionhas been illustrated and described, it .is to be understoodthat various modi-. flcations in the material, form, and assembly of theparts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims.

The invention claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a wiper of the character described, the combination of a cuphaving an inner and an .outer surface, the inner surface having a formproviding a suction cavity, and the outer surface a washer fitted on theshank and abutting against the rib; a wiper arm having a loop pivotallymounted on the shank of the stud and abutting against the washer; asecond washer fitted on the stud and abutting against the loop of thewiper arm; and a wiper blade connected to the arm.

2. In a wiper of the character described, the combination of a rubbersuction cup having an inner surface defining a suction cavity, and anouter surface formed to provide an annular rib centrally of the cup;meansfor attaching a wiper arm to the cup, comprising an anchor embeddedin the wall of the cup and a shank projecting beyond the wall of the cupand spaced from the rib, the outer end of the shank being reduced toprovide a shoulder; a pair of spaced washers on the shank, the first ofwhich bears against the rib of the cup and the second of which bears.against the shoulder on the shank, the shank being formed with anout-turned flange securing the second washer thereon; a wiper arm havinga loop fitted on the shank and 'disposed between the two washers; and awiper blade connected to the arm.

3. In a wiper of the character described, a suction cup of resilientmaterial, a wiper arm, a

pivotal connection between said cup and arm,

resiliency of the portion of said cup material under compression.

4. In a wiper. ,of the character described, a

suction cup of resilient material, a wiper arm,

a wiper blade mounted on said arm, a pivotal connection between said cupand arm and means engaging with said resilient cup material andcompressing and maintaining a portion thereof under compression, saidmeans being operatively related to said arm for providing a frictionalresistance thereto to prevent idle pivotal movement of the arm and bladewith relation to said cup, said frictional resistance being controlledby the resiliency of the portion of said cup material under compression.

5. In a wiper of the character described, the combination of a suctioncup having a resilient compressible projection thereon, a wiper arm, anassembly secured to the cup compressing said projection and having saidarm pivotally attached' thereto, said assembly embodying frictionalsurfaces contacting said arm continuously with a force exerted by saidprojection substantially equal to the force exerted by said assembly inthe compression of said projection, and assembly retaining means formaintaining compression of said projection by said assembly.

6. In a device of the class described, the comsurfaces contacting saidarm under the influence of the energy stored in the compressed portionof the cup, said surfaces being actuated toward said arm by the forceexerted by said compressed P rtion of said cup.

JOHN W. ANDERSOrL.

